Turn the Clock Around
by Ice Dragoness
Summary: Jack/Annie songfic to Mandy Moore's "Turn the Clock Around"; prequel to "From Loving You." It's time for Annie to leave the Molly Phillips tour . . . once and for all. . . .


"Turn the Clock Around"--Ice Dragoness

TURN THE CLOCK AROUND  
A Jack/Annie romance songfic  
Written by Ice Dragoness

_Disclaimer: "Turn the Clock Around" belongs to Mandy Moore and all copyright affiliates. No infringement is intended, and I am not making a profit from this._

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_We were talkin' to each other till dawn.   
You put your arms around me and you asked me what was wrong.   
I tried to be so serious, you smiled and played along.   
You were leaving home tomorrow, yeah, tomorrow, you'd be gone._

"I can't believe I'm leaving," you say quietly. I look away. You continue, "It's only been eight months. I was supposed to stay for a year. That's what my mother said." Tears form in your eyes. I want to brush them away.

"I'll miss you," I say roughly. I've always had a difficult time expressing my emotions.

"I'll miss you, too, Jack," you say, picking up your suitcase.

_Well, we must have had the stars above and Heaven on our side,   
'Cause we fell in love before we even made it through the night.   
But you were leaving town, into another kind of life.   
You walked me to the door and then we tried to say good-bye._

We walk toward where they are boarding the airplane. Everyone else has stepped away from us, allowing us to say good-bye. You blink away tears, and I do the same. "Write and call me, okay?" you choke out, and I nod silently. I hug you. Then you step away from me, and smile shakily. "I'll miss you," you whisper. You begin walking towards the plane. It was the last time I'd see you for years.

_Maybe I never found the right way,   
Kept my love hidden underground.   
Baby I wish that there was some way   
That I could turn the clock around._

All of me wishes that I had said "I love you." Why didn't I? Why didn't I tell you exactly how I felt? My mother puts her hand on my shoulder, stopping my thoughts. "We should go," her voice sounding choked up, too. I know she knows exactly what I'm going through. We leave.

_I couldn't sleep, I called up everybody that I knew.   
All my friends said I'd be crazy if I waited 'round for you.   
I wanted to believe them, so I called to say we're through.   
But when I heard your voice, it nearly broke my heart in two._

Two weeks after you'd left, I'm still unhappy. Clu says to me, "I know what Annie meant to you. But you have to get over her. She's gone, Jack." His words hit me like a train. You're gone. You're not coming back. A few minutes later, I call you.

"Hi, this is Annie Thelen," you say. I can't say hello; I can't say good-bye . . . I can't say anything without fear of crying. I hang up the phone without saying anything.

_Maybe I never found the right way,   
Kept my love hidden underground.   
Baby I wish that there was some way   
That I could turn the clock around._

It was so stupid of me not to tell you how I felt. So stupid. You deserved to know; you should've known. Maybe things would be different if I had told you that I loved you.

_Don't say you're gone,   
I'll find you someday._

_I jumped into my car but as I headed down the road,   
I knew that when I got there, there might be nobody home.   
You had gone away forever and you left me all alone.   
Now I was on my own._

You are gone. You're not coming back. I guess I just have to accept that, Annie. I'm on my own now. People always had a problem separating our names when we were together, because we were never apart. It was always "Annie and Jack" or "Jack and Annie." There's no more Annie and Jack, no more Jack and Annie anymore. . . . It's just Jack, now.

_Maybe I never found the right way,   
Kept my love hidden underground.   
Baby I wish that there was some way   
That I could turn the clock around._

It's been years. I applaud loudly as you finish a countryish ballad on stage. It seemed to sum up the entirety of our relationship. I smile at the memories, our memories. You smile and leave the stage. When I'd heard you were coming to town on your tour, I bought tickets immediately. I'm glad I did. I needed this; I needed closure.

I'll always love you, Annie. I hope you'll be happy someday . . . even if it's without me.


End file.
